Legacy of an Empire
by Michael Martini
Summary: A re-write of my previous story, "Empire", which was never finished, this story tells of a survivor of Planet Vegeta's destruction that comes to Earth in search of the Saiyan Prince...


_**Dragon Ball Z: Legacy of an Empire**_

Prologue: What is Known about Saiyans

The first true Saiyan evolved from large ape-like creatures about 5,000 years before the first modern homo sapien. These large apes, which have no name due to the Saiyan's lack of interest in paleontology and taxonomy, closely resembled large, ten-foot-tall gorillas with long tails, the ultimate primate. No hard evidence of this had ever been proven due to the constant change of the landscape of planet Vegeta due to warfare and of course, the destruction of the planet by the evil Frieza. However, stories have been passed down from generation to generation and the vague Saiyan history books speak of such occurrences.

The first Saiyans looked like larger versions of human Neanderthals with monkey-tails and were very strong. It is believed that the huge gravitational pull of the planet combined with other planetary phenomena led to certain mutations in the Saiyan gene pool that led to this physiological strength. Very confrontational from the start, the primitive Saiyans would often engage in fights with other clans. At this point in their history, the Saiyans had no organized martial arts style, no knowledge of how to collect and use their life energies (Ki), or even had an organized language. These battles would often involve using brute strength and numbers to achieve victory.

Slowly, but surely, the Saiyans advanced, both their intelligence and strength grew with each new generation. About 1,000 years after the first Saiyan, their numbers higher than ever before, they began to explore the world that they lived in. They discovered the Tuffles, a technologically-advanced society of people that actually evolved from the same common ancestor millions of years before the saiyans did. The Saiyans, having the love for violence in their nature, immediately began attacking the Tuffle society. Although bigger and stronger, the Saiyans were held at bay by the technology, weapons, and overall organization of the Tuffle military. For weeks, the Tuffles pushed the Saiyan force back until something happened on the planet that hadn't happened in one-hundred years; there was a full moon. The light radiation from the full moon caused something extraordinary to happen. The moon triggered an unbelievable transformation of the saiyans. They turned into fifty-foot tall beasts (also called Oozaru). Their power increased tenfold and their unstoppable rampage completely annihilated the Tuffles. Today we know that there are special glands and nerve junctions around the base of the tail that allow for this transformation. The radiation is absorbed through the eyes and skin and is somehow transported through the nervous system to the area. It is for this reason why they cannot transform if the tail is removed and why Saiyans are incapacitated if the tail is squeezed. However, that last weakness seemed to be fading out as the modern elite Saiyans, Nappa and Prince Vegeta would not be affected if their tails were squeezed. The tails are extremely important to Saiyan warriors mostly due to the power it gives them. Even when not transformed, a saiyan with a tail is, in general, stronger than a saiyan without a tail. If a Saiyan loses it in battle, he or she could be the blunt of harsh jokes and are cast aside until the tail grows back (usually takes a few weeks). The older the saiyan is, the harder it is for them to grow back their tail. If the Saiyan is unfortunate enough to lose the tail forever, he or she is no longer even considered to be a Saiyan (Obviously in the case of Kakarot, the first Super Saiyan in nearly 3 millennia, there's an exception).

The Saiyans continued to learn and grow at an immeasurable rate. They adapted the Tuffle technology and eventually created a language and society. The first Saiyan King, Vegeta was crowned about 1,500 years after the first Saiyan emerged. The saiyans kept on growing and evolving both physically and culturally for the next 200,000 years until the speed of their growth nearly wiped them out. About 3,000 years ago, the first Super Saiyan emerged. Although there is no detailed information on this topic, it is widely believed that the Super Saiyan was actually so powerful that his humanoid body couldn't handle the physical stress of the power, so he transformed into the Oozaru state without the assistance of the full moon. The story goes that his power was so intense that the Saiyan was destroyed in an explosion of rage and energy. In addition, almost half of the saiyan population was also destroyed. The Saiyan "religion" if you want to call it that, is based on the Super Saiyan legend. Simply, Saiyans yearn to continue to grow in power and try to get as close to the level as they can get. Previously, it was believed that only the royal bloodline had the potential to reach that level, however, the saiyan Kakarrot (known mostly by his Earth name, Goku) was the first to reach the level in over 3,000 years and he belonged to a low-level soldier family. Because of their ability to grow in strength almost immediately after battle, along with their primitive violent and angry nature within them, all Saiyans are believed to have the potential to become a Super Saiyan.

Saiyans have a very large appetite. This is most likely due to the huge energy outputs that they can create on an almost daily basis. Their diets consist mostly of meats, fish, and complex carbohydrates in order to supply their muscles with the protein and energy to repair them after battle. Their digestive system is very advanced so they can eat just about anything that has cellular matter. Their naturally occurring high metabolisms of Saiyans make obesity very rare in their culture. In most cases, an overweight Saiyan could remedy the problem with about a week of intense training.

Saiyan society is very simple; Saiyans are ruled completely by the King. Often times, the King relies on an elected council, mostly made up of high-ranking military officers, to offer advice and opinions. However, the King's decisions are final. Some might see this as a way for corruption to occur. This is not the case most of the time as the King would not be one to bring any sort of dishonor to the family. The Saiyans are loyal to the King and in return he is fair to them. There are no stores, no entertainment industries or anything of that nature. There is only the military. From a very young age, all Saiyans are trained to become fighters and are often sent off to other planets as babies. However, after their "test runs" if there is little or no success, they are transferred to the scientific departments. There, the Saiyans learn to master the sciences and mathematics (Saiyans are smarter than most believe) and join large research teams. Typically, these teams work on genetics, to find ways to create better warriors, or engineering, to find ways to create better equipment such as armor and transport vehicles. Some even work on ways to form more intense attack techniques. One of the most famous one was an energy ball that replicates the radiation of the full moon. A Saiyan could then transform without an actual full moon being present.

Saiyan mating is a very sacred thing to these people. With humans, usually males look for the "best-looking" females because they assume that good-looks means good genetics. Human females tend to look for males who will be good providers for herself and the offspring they create. Both male and female Saiyans look for the best possible mate to share his or her genetics with. Advancing the species genetically is very important to them. Often time, the Power Level is crucial. However it is hard to say whether looks are important or not because there really aren't any "ugly" saiyans. They are all have very athletic physiques. One thing is for certain, males don't like females that are constantly concerned with their beauty. They prefer rugged, strong women. Sex is a very strange thing. While courtship does occur, the ultimate goal of any union is to reproduce. There aren't societal judgments on the illegitimacy of offspring. If anything, the more children you have, the better off you are. Much of this has to do with the fact that there is no economy and monetary concerns. The government provides it's working soldiers with all the food and shelter they will ever need. While monogamy is the norm of modern Saiyans, it is not regarded as strange if a Saiyan, male or female, would go off and mate with other partners. Again, it is all about dispersing the genes. There are no marriage ceremonies and they live in an even and fair society as far as sex goes. Saiyan pregnancies last about seven months. However, most prefer for their young to be born in an artificial womb as so the females could continue to fight. The Saiyan culture revolves around fighting and honor. It is seen as a disgrace to dilute the Saiyan gene pool with the blood of another species. However, sometimes, the urge to procreate is so intense in Saiyans that they will resort to mating with other genetically-compatible species. No hybrids are on record except the ones on Earth (whether saiyan-human hybrids are stronger than pure-bloods has not been proven as there aren't enough to form a reasonably hypothesis).

While there have been many "Kings" named Vegeta, the very first true King Vegeta (2900 years ago) set forth a campaign that completely reshaped the Saiyan Society. It was determined that the Super Saiyan was of royal blood and Language, government, economy, and military were created. The economy was based on basic trade and there was no currency. The Saiyans officially became a military-based society. Legions of soldiers were created made up of both men and women. They eventually learned how to control their Ki energy and use it to their advantage in warfare. All firearms became obsolete. Saiyans began sending troops to nearby planets to begin expanding the Saiyan Empire. This growth continued until about 50 years ago when the terrible Lord Frieza invaded the solar system and took control of the empire. Seeing the potential in the Saiyans, Frieza continued to send them out to planets to begin the take-over of more worlds.

About 40 years ago, two things happened that marked the beginning of the end of the Saiyans. The reigning King Vegeta of the time organized an attack on Frieza during a meeting between the two rulers. This act was futile, as Frieza easily killed the King along with all the other conspirators. During this same time, Bardock, a low class soldier (and father of Kakarot), and his team of Saiyans continued to achieve victory after victory in the name of Frieza. Along with this, Bardock's strength grew at an incredible rate. He went from a low-level Saiyan to having the power of Elite in less than a year. Bardock's successes caught the eye of Frieza. One of Frieza's right hand men, Dodoria was sent to kill Bardock and his team before his power grew too strong. Bardock managed to escape the assault and return to planet Vegeta, but it was too late. Frieza had already decided to destroy all the Saiyans before they had the strength to challenge him. Using a large Death Ball of energy, Frieza blew up planet Vegeta. Only four Saiyans survived: the young Prince Vegeta, his bodyguard, Nappa, and Bardock's two sons, Raditz and Kakarot.

Kakarot was sent to Earth as a baby. His mission was to transform into the Oozaru state and soften up Earth for the true invasion by Frieza's army. However, an elderly man by the name of Gohan came across the opened space pod and adopted the young Saiyan as his own and renamed him Goku. Initially, Goku was a very feisty and uncontrollable child. One day, he fell and hit the back of his head. Apparently the head of a Saiyan baby is very vulnerable. As a result, his entire personality changed. He became an obedient and loving boy. Goku was seen as some sort of human mutant (because of his tail and ability to transform before the full moon). Tragically, he killed his adopted grandfather when he stepped on him after he transformed. He lived by himself for a while as a boy. His grandfather trained him in the basics of martial arts and Goku, being a true Saiyan at heart, took to it quickly and really enjoyed it. His strength, speed, and skill was unlike anything else. Up to the age of eighteen, Goku trained with the human Master Roshi and Kami, God of the Earth. There he learned how to utilize ki, learn more about the martial arts, and grow even more as a warrior. He eventually had his tail permanently removed because he never wanted to endanger innocent bystanders if he transformed. As he grew, he participated in quite a few World Martial Arts Tournaments where he did extremely well considering his age. After defeating the Namek, Piccolo, he settled down with the human female, Chi-Chi and the two had a son, Gohan.

Soon after this, the Saiyan Raditz came to Earth in search of his long-lost brother. Raditz told Goku of his true origin. After refusing to side with him, Goku, who was teamed with Piccolo, defeated the stronger Raditz. However, Goku sacrificed himself and died. After training in the "Next Dimension" with the master King Kai for about a year, Goku was wished back to life by his friends using the Dragon Balls which are mystical objects with Namekian origins. Goku, who was much stronger than ever before, returned and eventually defeated both the Saiyan Elites, Nappa, and Prince Vegeta.

On his journey to the planet Namek to assist his friends in finding the Dragon Balls, Goku trained in very harsh conditions (100x Earth's gravity). By the time the trip was over, Goku's power increased even more. Lord Frieza was also present at Namek and also was looking for the Dragon Balls in order to wish for immortality. In a battle in which Goku made quick work of the Elite Mercenary Team, the Ginyu Force, Vegeta, who had been beaten badly by the team, first expressed the notion that Goku had ascended to the level of a Super Saiyan. In the eventual battle with Frieza, Goku pushed the evil Lord to transform to his most powerful form. Eventually, Goku pushed himself to the level of the Super Saiyan after Frieza killed Goku's best friend, Krillin. After that, Goku ended Frieza's reign.

The original thought that the Super Saiyan only could reach that level in the Oozaru state was disregarded as Goku achieved it without a tail. His eyes turned blue-green and hair became blonde. The power increase was absolutely incredible. (On a side note, the genetics of a Saiyan may change as they ascend to the Super Saiyan level as offspring of a Super Saiyan are more likely to achieve the level at a younger age than normal).

Goku eventually returned to Earth and had countless more battles to fight. The monsters Cell, Majin Buu, amongst others came and were eventually defeated. Goku along with the other Saiyans Vegeta, and Gohan all reached the Super Saiyan level. They all surpassed that level and went on to the second level of Super Saiyan. Most recently, Goku reached the third Super Saiyan level while training in the other dimension.

Saiyans age at a much slower rate than humans in order for them to fight for longer periods of time and their hair remains the same length that it is at birth; however, they can interbreed with humans. This is due to the fact that the genetics between the two species are very similar. Although Saiyans and hybrid Saiyans are considerably stronger than humans, one must wonder the potential of the human race is. Unfortunately, the Saiyans have been virtually wiped out of existence. Goku and Vegeta will eventually die and with them the legacy of the true saiyans. As the years pass, the human genetics will dilute the Saiyan blood in Gohan, Trunks, and Goten and with that dilute the Saiyan culture. But for the time being, the Saiyans are the strongest species in the universe. Not having the mystic abilities and vast techniques of the Namekians, the Saiyans rely on their ability to grow after each fight to maintain their dominance in the universe…


End file.
